Sorry for the delay. The year has been pretty busy for me so far, but this is a lengthy chapter so I hope this makes up for it! Disclaimer: Beast Wars isn't mine. I only own my OCs.
"This has been one quiet day."
Rachel's words as the Red Aura made her wonder if it was gonna stay like that. She rested a hand on her forehead as she and Optimus were flying after a patrol, "God, I hope I didn't jinx it." She adjusted her sunglasses, very grateful to have them. The sun was bright today.
"Certainly, but it was good to see how your regular patrols go with the four of you." The other three didn't stay with them as they had other businesses through the day. Optimus could tell the impact they had earlier when a small human boy came up to him. It was nice to see the soft side of Rachel. He'd seen her in a serious state most of the time.
"Oh yeah, I was pretty nervous about it." Aura chuckled lightly at his words, "You really enjoy exploring the outdoors, don't you? I could tell with all of the plants in your quarters."
Optimus chuckled warmly, "Yes, actually, I enjoy stopping to smell the roses as Rhinox would put it like." He enjoyed having been around the girls and giving them pointers of their own. He did have to give Rachel pointers despite kind of being new on leadership himself. He was much wiser than the human next to him though, "I think you could learn something about it."
"I'm not entirely much of a 'go with the flow' kind of person. Doesn't mean my mom didn't raise me trying to learn that. It just really isn't my style." She wasn't lying to him. In fact, she had zero intention to, "This doesn't also mean that I'm impatient per say, I'm just not really in the mood to walk too slowly. I like a normal pace." She liked her own, really, "I like my own pace."
"You like your own?" Optimus wondered. He would've humored her if she hadn't said what she had said just now. He knew she wasn't impatient, she was more, instinct ridden, wit ridden. He admit, he didn't know Rachel for that long, but his opinion of her changed a bit through these practices. He thought she was impatient and impulsive at first, but as he got to know her, he realized she was driven more on impulse. She put a lot of her body and soul into this job, almost like this job made her feel important.
"Yeah, basically," She declared, "I think people put too much into pacing, but some put too little. I like a middle, and if I get either or, I can't feel like I'm growing." Aura was liking this conversation. In fact, she was starting to enjoy Optimus's company compared to just tolerating it like before. She enjoyed talking with him. She liked his pointers. Even if she got mad at him sometimes, she didn't hate him. Their ways of handling things collided.
Optimus hummed in approval, before spotting something in view. "Hold on," His optics scanned the area, spotting a sign below them that was pretty odd. His arm moved in front of Aura to stop her, "That sign is pretty suspicious don't you agree?"
Aura looked down, unaware of the sign that was shown that said, "Coming soon: Optimus Primal complex"
That did not sound good. At least, she knew this.
"We…" She wanted to go down there, see why. Her curiosity was there. However, at the same time, her instincts told her otherwise. That was a trap, it was so obvious. She knew it was, but she couldn't shake off this feeling that something wasn't right.
She never is this hesitant, this concerned.
"Wait." Optimus put a hand on her shoulder, "You shouldn't go down there. You might be a human but in this getup, you stick out a sore thumb."
"And you don't?" Came the snarky response back, "Sure, I'm so sure a fucking robot stands out more than a human dressed up like a comic book heroine."
"I actually have a holoform now thanks to my systems allowing me around. I'll be much capable of handling this on my own." Optimus told her before shifting into his holoform, "You can hang tight in case I need backup." He narrowed his red eyes, "I have a feeling I might need it. Which is why I am glad that I have you around."
Aura didn't like leaving this stuff to him, but he did make a valid point. It wasn't like she wouldn't be watching from the shadows. Using her telekinesis, she descended the human disguise Maximal down to the ground, making sure to keep an eye on her surroundings and she went down herself to hide in the trees.
Optimus watched his surroundings. From his datatracks, he could tell that these sports were human related activities. A tennis court came into view by the door before he stepped into the office.
He was about to look into the area even further before a voice cut him from his thoughts, "Oh? We're currently in construction. Can I help you with something?"
"Ah," Optimus scratched the back of his helm, "I was wondering, where did you get the name for this building? It's quite the odd name."
A grin Optimus didn't like spread on the features of the man, "Come to the basketball court, and I'll show you."
Meanwhile, Aura had no idea just what was going on in there until she saw that the director and Optimus walking to another part of the building. She quickly moved in slowly, keeping herself hidden.
"Let's play a few rounds then." The director dribbled a basketball before clenching it in his hands.
"You'll have to forgive me, sir." Optimus spoke to the director, "I haven't played ball in years."
"Oh, I wasn't asking for a game." The man retorted with a dark smirk on his lips.
"What are you-"
Before Optimus could finish his sentence, a fist connected with his face, sending her flying across the room, rolling down on the dark gravel ground. His hollow form disappeared instantly, realizing that the man wasn't human at all.
He wiped the dirt off of her face, coughing. He actually knocked the wind out of him with that punch.
"I'm not through with you yet!" The director declared, dribbling a ball in his hands before chucking it in the Optimus's direction. He barely avoided the attack before charging at the man before him, grabbing him and pushing them out of the building.
The sudden movements of the two almost took Aura by surprised, letting out a soft gasp. Holy shit.
Optimus quickly threw the man into the ground. However, the man was quick to recover, charging to deliver a variety of punches. Optimus was able to dodge the first couple but quickly overwhelmed, being thrown back by the attack.
Optimus only had seconds to react as a kick came into view of him, flipping backwards to dodge. His optics narrowed at the man as he walked towards him.
"I know who you are, Optimus Primal. Megatron wishes to have your head."
"Lovely the secret's out." Optimus responded with more than a hint of sarcasm in his voice. The man pulled out his gun, pointing it at him.
Aura knew immediately that wasn't going to well so she pushed Optimus back with her telekinesis the moment the 'man' opened fire at them. Optimus landed in the bleachers, quickly taking cover. He knew that had to have been Aura that did that.
Aura wasted no time moving from where she was hiding and into the shadows further. If she could take the guy by surprise, they could stop him for sure. The hell was he though? His arm turned into a fucking machine gun. Was he like her? Was Megatron recruiting people like her?
She didn't have time to think about it as the bullets roared through the trees. She ran and took cover in a ditch, panting. She needed to be on the offensive for this, but how could she if she was pinned down.
"Ah, I'm a big fan of yours, Miss Red Aura." The man's deep and charming voice called, reloading his gun again before opening fire again to pin Optimus down, "Megatron prefers both of you alive."
"No thanks, I'm not a big fan of stalkers." She hinted with the utmost sarcasm, already knowing what she was going to do next.
She moved him forward with her telekinesis this time, taking him towards where Optimus send him before he sent a powerful punch to the man, sending him flying towards the ground.
However, Aura had already been on top of him, blasting his cannon to smithereens with burning blazes coming from her hands. It was then that she realized it was a drone. Optimus took the opportunity to punch him in the face, dislocating his jaw.
Not even a second later, Optimus was already grabbing the android by the collar, "Who sent you? Was it Megatron?"
Clearly. Aura's tongue clicked with confirmation. It had to be. He said Megatron wanted them both alive, after all. However, she wasn't sure for what.
She approached Optimus and the non functional droid after a few seconds of silence, "Doesn't look like we know, but he said Megatron wanted us alive. That should be a confirmation."
"Yes, perhaps you're right." Optimus dropped the now dead android with a loud thud, "There might be more of them in here. We should look for them-"
The sound of something shifting rang in both of the leaders' ears. Aura wasted no time pulling her chakrams out, floating them while Optimus loaded his cannons.
Coming into their view was a hologram of Megatron.
"What do we have here?" Megatron's voice chuckled, looking at the two opposing leaders, "What could've possibly happened to that drone of mine, hmmm?" Sarcasm filled his vocal processor. To think such a normal trick would make his two enemies into a trap, "Did it give the great Optimus Primal trouble?"
"Megatron, we don't have to be at each others' throats. Surely we can settle this without killing each other." Optimus wasn't a killer. He didn't want to go down to Megatron's level. He had to at least try, right?
"Highly doubt he's up for dropping this world domination bullshit." Aura sighed, wishing Optimus would understand this kind of stuff wasn't gonna be solved. Just looked at what just happened, "He just attacked the two of us." How could he NOT think that he wouldn't be up for negotiation.
Optimus had to admit, Aura had a point, but he'd rather not resort to violence of all things if he didn't have to. He can see where she's coming from, but this had to be avoided.
"Ah yes, Miss Aura has a valid point. However, if you want to prevent bloodshed of your fellow comrades, you could negotiate with me."
"Fad chance." Aura spat out, "How do we know you ain't gonna double cross us?"
"Quite the perceptive one, my dear. You do catch on quickly." Megatron chuckled at her words. Smart girl, smart, but completely misguided, "You could take half of the world Optimus. Think of the glory of that."
"You're insane." Optimus responded with an edge to his voice, "You know I can't accept that."
Of course, he doesn't expect the great Optimus Primal and a mere child who was in over her head to understand his antic. Optimus Primal who was clinging onto the ideology of the Maximal Elders who brainwashed him for mere stellar cycles by steller cycles. He doesn't expect a mere human to understand his ideology. If these two want the least bloodshed, then they should know better than to cross him.
But of course, he has some respect for both of them. Moreso Primal than the human. He has yet to see all her cards. Primal he had seen. He knew, he was capable commander. Aura, he has yet to realize what she had under her sleeve, but with Optimus guiding her, he had quite the feeling he would find out how her cards would play in this powerful game.
It's either they both give into him or he will overcome them himself. Besides, it's not like they have an advantage right now. They didn't and they were well aware of it.
"More people are gonna die if we let you and your army run amuck." Aura pointed out. She had zero intention to back down despite the experience she had with Megatron, but if she didn't want him to get suspicious, she had to play it as if they never really crossed.
"It's such a shame you both don't see things my way. For Miss Aura, she's far too inexperienced to make a calculating decision like that. You, on the other hand, are far too brainwashed by the Maximal Elders to realize such things. You're both are free to give me a call if you change your mind." Megatron chuckled, "For now, we are in a conflict. One that I have the upper hand in."
Aura let out a heavy sigh, already tired of hearing him talk. He might be right, people will die in this, but she wanted to be a heroine and being a heroine means saving others. No matter how much her heart breaks in this war, it would mean everything if she saved the lives of many. She couldn't give a rat's ass about herself in this situation. It was more important that she was strong enough to eventually face Megatron in battle. Either as a commander, or a fighter, or even both. She knew listening to him wasn't going to help. He needn't underestimate how stubborn the human race was. How stubborn she was.
Still, her and Optimus both couldn't deny the upper hand he had. Her rage fired up again. This time, from the memory of being useless a couple of weeks back. She wasn't able to stand up to him then. She wished she could've tore him apart. Rose and her former tribe didn't deserve this. None of them did. They didn't deserve to get torn apart for the sake of resources.
"I can see that." Optimus remarked, noticing Rachel was getting tense. In fact, her blood had been boiling a lot. She must've kept her anger in from that day a couple of weeks ago.
Aura couldn't help but understand that. She saw it firsthand when she didn't have the red hood she hides under during these battles. She hated to give Megatron any key points, but she wasn't a dumbass. She knew, she saw it, which makes it all the more reason she has to make sure she and the others don't lose their identities in the process. They couldn't let anyone else get dragged into this.
She didn't realize that she had been clenching her fists so hard till now. She always hated being useless. She always hated not being in control of situations she felt like she could help.
When the time came to face Megatron, she had to be ready.
"Soon, my new business will be able to expand across this nation. Once the United States has fallen under my reign, the neighboring countries will be next. In the future, there will be an iron curtain around this world." Megatron laughed.
"And I'll be right there to stop you." Optimus told him proudly.
Rachel Summers was never one to let fear stop her. She has had some close encounters during the year she's been doing these vigilante stuff. She wasn't going to back down just because of some little encounter she had.
"That goes double for me." She nodded firmly. She wouldn't show weakness, not to him, not to anyone.
"Don't make me laugh, I have every piece of information to use to my advantage here. I know how this entire society, its people, its business, and its politics all work. You and your small army couldn't possibly stand a chance." Megatron gloated. It was true, after all, they didn't stand a chance. He highly doubted these two would be a problem for him. He was in control and that, it would stay.
"Don't underestimate us." Aura narrowed her eyes, gripping her chakram in her right hand tightly, "You might be surprised what a lot can do."
"Glady, it wouldn't be fun if I didn't get some resistance, I must admit." Megatron chuckled, deciding it was time for him to take his leave, ""If you two ever reconsider, you have my number."
And the hologram vanished.
XXXX
"I was afraid of this."
Rhinox was checking Optimus's wounds from the attack as he let out a yawn. Dinobot was leaning against the wall in the infamery. Sophia stood in her Water Sprite outfit along with Rose. Rachel was a few feet away from Optimus, arms crossed across her chest. The two girls had came running when they heard Rachel and Optimus were being attacked.
"Yes, I was as well." He agreed, "I'm glad Rachel and myself found it and not some random human." If it could knock them around, who knows what it could've done to a civilian? "Still, we know now that humans have the potential to make technology as strong as our own."
Rachel knew Optimus had to be right about that one. She witnessed all that stuff herself, after all.
Dinobot groaned, "Gah, insignificant robot." He rolled his optics, flipping a servo, "I say, we find out where all those robots are that are in progress and destroy them all."
"We don't know if there's anymore of those." Rose piped up, "For all we know, that could be just a prototype."
"Rose has a point." Rhinox nodded in agreement with her words, "I don't think Megatron would've wasted time if he wanted to control the two of you."
"Yeah, that's what got me worried, If he's so keen on us helping him, he could've tried it by first instead…" Optimus trailed off just as he was cut off by Rhinox.
"Instead, he sent a single one after the two of you." He sighed, "I don't know, but I got a bad feeling about this."
"Same here, Rhino." Rattrap pointed out as he was playing his digital card game, "Real surprising Megsy even offered them that. Something else is going on."
"If that thing is a prototype, its gotta have some info. Maybe we could destroy it?" Rhinox suggested.
"If it's important, Megatron will probably end up putting it where he and he alone can access it." Optimus stated with a shrug, "That doesn't mean it won't be impossible though." He turned over to Rattrap, sending him a cheeky grin.
Rattrap looked at Optimus for a moment before returning to his game, knowing fully well what he was thinking. Optimus responded by shutting his game off, "Hey!" he yelped, pointing a index finger at the Maximal leader, "Ain't no way you're having me spy on where the blueprints are."
"I wasn't going to propose to spy, I was going to have you infiltrate and destroy them." Optimus crossed his arms across his chest, "I have a plan involving Agent Fowler as well. Rachel," Optimus turned to her, "Can you contact him?"
"Sure can." Rachel nodded, pulling out her phone.
XXXX
"PRIMAL!"
The shouting of Agent Fowler came echoing the next day, " You better not be wasting my time with this. Rachel just told me to come in."
"It'll be worth it, I promise" Optimus replied, keeping the grin on his face, "There was an attack yesterday Rachel and I encountered with a drone. We believe Megatron will make more of these. Therefore, we have to find the blueprints."
Agent Fowler raised his eyebrows for a moment, sighing, flipping his right hand, "And what's that gotta do with me? You know I am a busy man."
"Yessss, I am oh so certain that you have plenty of other important things to do than to stop an alien from conquering your planet." Dinobot's voice dripped with sarcasm.
"Can it, Lizard butt." Agent Fowler rolled his eyes, "Of course I got better things to do. Megatron's a problem you bots said you could handle. So show me. You're really blowing this if you can ask my help…"
Rachel cleared her throat, "We need you for this mission because of the fact that you have access to a lot of CEO's information since you're a government agent." Her mom couldn't know about the Industries Megatron took over.
"It's a lot harder than it's done and this is a knock off Metal Gear we're currently dealing with at the moment. Not your average Joe." He walked over to the computer, looking down at the keys that looked in a different language, "Can you give me access to the computer? I'm gonna have to make a quick search." He pulled out a black USB cord, connecting it to his phone. He then held out the end to connect to the computer.
Rhinox gave a nod, opening a port that could connect with that cord. Agent Fowler plugged it in before opening his government information.
"It might be hard for me to breach but there's a danger: if Mega dump knows that you bots are trying something, he might have a way to find you and what you're planning. Do you got any firewalls you can pull Rhino scales?" He asked Rhinox.
Rhinox nodded, "Sure can, but it'll take some time to get up." He typed out some stuff, "We shouldn't do it here though. We'll have to crack the information from the source."
"Don't you government agents have a firewall for your information?" Optimus asked as Fowler nodded.
"Yes, but I'd rather not take my chances on having dinosaur aliens trying to murder me." Fowler commentated, "Plus if Bucketheaded Barney here knows the ins and outs of government systems, we'll have to double it if he tries to interfere."
"That's a good point." Optimus confirmed, nodding, "Rhinox, get that software for the firewall. We'll need it if we're gonna get into the systems."
"Can't say this is entirely my style, King Kong." Fowler stated, "I'm glad you got yourself a computer tech,"
Optimus hummed in agreement, "Yes, Rattrap also has a knack for these kinds of things." He looked over at the spy who sighed.
"Of course you're gonna have me do the dirty work." Rattrap grumbled, "But can't we get the info."
"We can only get the info for the firewall here. If we hack in here, we risk Megatron knowing our base location." Optimus replied. He knew that would put them at an even bigger disadvantage than what they already were.
"So, we're going in there to the office?" Rachel suggested with a soft sigh.
"Yes, you've been in there before so you already know the schematics. You should take Fowler and Rattrap with you. Keep in touch with me through your commlink." Optimus told her.
Rachel pulled up her Red Aura hood, throwing her sunglasses, "Great, I gotta run through that hellhole again." It shouldn't be bad but that place gave Rachel some chills. Better yet, what if Megatron connected the dots?
"Don't give me the benefit of watching the two of you getting slagged." Dinobot hummed as Rachel and Rattrap both rolled their eyes, "That honor is to be for me."
"Sure, we'll get on that." Rachel noted with the smallest hint of humor in her voice, "I'm sure we'll remember your threat to our nerves next time."
"Yeah, I'd love for you to try to sneak around, Chopperface." Rattrap pointed a finger at Dinobot. The former Predacon slapped it to the side, walking past them.
"Well, something tells me I'm gonna need this." Fowler pulled out a gun, just in case, "Been quite a while since I had to use one of these things."
"Hopefully you don't have to use it." Rachel sighed.
XXXX
About an hour later, Aura, Rattrap, and Fowler were all in the building of the Industries. They glanced around, not even seeing a single soul around the main area.
"Man, talk about quiet." Rattrap muttered, feeling as if he already had a bad feeling about this, "It's way too quiet."
"That's because it's after hours. We're trespassing around here." Fowler hinted, pointing a finger.
"So. you got a power like Miss Sunshine over here does?" Rattrap wondered, jabbing a finger at Aura who was looking around, trying to figure out just how they were gonna get to the top floor.
"Notta single one." Fowler admitted, "but it doesn't mean I can't pull punches."
"Dat means we're gonna have to make sure no Preds come in there once we get Fowler in there." Rattrap stated as Aura nodded.
"Yeah, I'm aware." She looked up at the elevator, "That's not gonna be an option. I'm sure Megatron keeps tabs on that elevator." It was a huge building after all.
"So what's the plan? Taking the stairs? It'll take us forever to do that one." Fowler knew they didn't have much time before the Predacons realized they were in here.
"You're forgetting about one thing though Agent." Aura tapped her forehead on her template, "I could get us up there faster."
"Yeah, but we don't need you overexerting yourself. What's gonna happen if you don't have the energy to fight if need be?"
"I can always push myself. I'm not gonna get better if I don't." Aura sighed, "Besides, do you have any ideas on how to get up there other than the stairs?" She knew she could possibly get her attention if she used her fire too much. She would just have to lift them with her telekinesis if need be.
Fowler had to admit she had a point. The vents weren't an option here. They were too small.
Okay, what else did they have to lose other than their lives here? These two better do what they needed to here or else they'll bite the dust.
Aura reached out her hand to take to Fowler as they reached the stairs, "Rattrap, get on my shoulder."
"You sure you can lift that much weight?"
"Are you calling me fat, rodent?" Agent Fowler glared at the rat, "I may have gained a little weight, but I'm not fat." He was fluffy, utterly fluffy.
"Could you two drop your squabble later?" Aura groaned, "We really don't have time for this."
Rattrap jumped on her shoulder as Fowler grabbed her wrist, "Really hope you know what you're doing kid. More mass means you're more prone to overheating faster."
"No worries, I've had worse." She replied before boosting herself with fire in her legs, reverting them up the stairs. It was relatively fast. However, Rachel was a bit slower than usual due to the weight. However, they were moving pretty swiftly up the stairs. Except the couple sharp turns she kept doing that were making her body feel like she was on fire.
"Holy shitbeans, quit taking sharp turns, kid. I'm gonna throw up." Fowler gagged, trying to hold down his vomit.
"Sorry, you're gonna get some motion sickness in here." Aura sighed as Rattrap was hanging onto dear life to her neck.
"Hey kid, this is quicker. Nice thinking." He smiled, "But would it KILL you to have some control."
"The hell you talking about? This isn't even my top speed. Sides, I'm not used to holding all this weight on me."
They continued through the stairs before they landed at the door that was the CEO's building. Fowler looked over, walking towards it, trying not to heave after that steep experience.
"Hold on." Rattrap and Aura stated at the same time, "I wouldn't touch that."
Fowler stopped himself, realizing that there had to be some kind of defensive energy around it at closing time if there was some top secret info.
"Let me see if I can break it." Aura cracked her knuckles before Rattrap put a hand out to stop her.
"Nah, let me do it this time." He pulled out one of his gadgets that could short circuit the door. He threw it up in the air, catching it, throwing it at the door.
Lightning sparked through the door, until it was disabled. The door came flying open.
"I still got it," Rattrap grinned, "now let's get moving so we can take out those blueprints."
"I don't think so." Came a gruff voice.
Rattrap and Aura turned to see Scorponok, Waspinator, and Terrorsaur all standing there with weapons out.
"Get in there." Aura hollered at Fowler, pushing him in there with his telekinesis. She readied her chakrams as Rattrap pulled out his blaster, "We'll handle this from here."
"I still gotta pay you back for the last time we met, human." Terrorsaur aimed his weapon at Aura and fired. Aura jumped out of the way, jumping past Terrorsaur, throwing a chakram in his direction. He avoided the attack. He aimed his blaster again only to feel a sensation attacking his systems. It caused him to fall to the ground.
Rattrap blew his blaster as he shot Waspinator down. The last one to deal with was Scorponok.
Meanwhile, while this was going on. Fowler immediately ran to the desk that was sitting in Megatron's office, ready to pull out his USB device to erase the blueprints the moment he found them.
"Ah, god damn it!" Fowler roared, looking at the blue screen as he heard gunshots being exchanged. "I better be quick about this. If Buckethead is onto us, they might bring backup."
Come on, it was just a few quick keys. He plug in the USB immediately, and a black screen came up from the government.
This wasn't his style, but he was looking through the system for the blueprints. There was so much content in here. So much that can be used.
The sudden sound of the door open as he heard Rattrap and Aura dealing with the Predacons. He jumped, pulling his gun out that he had with him earlier. Brown hues, looking around the dark room.
The sheer paranoia plagued him as he saw red optics glowing. He was shaking, sweating nervously, seeing purple shards that looked metalic.
Was that Megatron?
"Rattrap! Aura! We got a problem!" Fowler hollered, "I need you to." A step foreward, followed by another, "Son of a bitch!" He had no time for this, he opened fire.
Aura ducked from the missle assualt that Scorponok was firing at, looking over to hear what Fowler was talking about.
No, fuck, why the hell did he have to be there? If it had been anyone else there wouldn't of been a problem.
The sudden roar of gunshots came into her ears, causing her to panic slightly. She needed to get over there to help him now.
"Optimus, we got a problem!" Aura exclaimed trying to speed past Scorponok's fire. It was reckless to do such a stunt right now, but they weren't gonna get anywhere if she didn't act now, "Megatron's onto us!" She sidestepped to dodge a missile heading her way, "Rattrap!"
"Yeah, yeah, I heard 'em, kid." He reloaded his gun before opening fire at Scorponok.
Aura took her opportunity to speed past Scorponok, flying over his head as the shots were fired. She heard more and more gunshots untill there were none left. There was minutes, seconds for her to react. If Megatron got a hold of Fowler, they were screwed.
She knew she was feeling overheated, courtesy of her higher than usual temperature mixed with the fact she used her fire powers quite a bit earlier. She needed to act now. At the rate things were going, she couldn't stop him, but she could stall.
Within seconds, she was on top of the situation just before Megatron could grab a hold of Fowler. Above Megatron in seconds.
"Get out of the way!" Aura yelled, using her power to knock Megatron backwards with an invisible force, landing behind Fowler who looked shook. She slid a few feet away from Fowler.
"Good timing kid." Fowler chuckled as Aura wiped the sweat off of her forehead, panting.
"Don't worry about my timing right now, get the blueprints. I can't hold him off forever." She floated her chakrams around her in an instant. She didn't want to fight Megatron, but she didn't have a choice till Rattrap was done with Scorponok. Better yet, she doesn't see either of them winning with their combined strength.
Aura was bluffing. That much, was clear to Fowler, but he knew she understood the importance. He needed to work fast. Rachel couldn't handle Megatron in her condition.
Megatron stepped out of the smoke, smirking from ear to ear. He didn't look even scratched by Aura's attack. Damn.
The moment she step forward, her whole body screamed for her to stop. It was overheating, exhausted. She didn't have much time. Probably five minutes at best.
Still, it was her duty to protect Fowler in this situation. She had to trust the others got her message. Hold her own here. Optimus wouldn't back down in her position.
Regardless, she stood her ground, keeping herself on the ready if she needed to fight harder.
"You're no condition to pick a fight with me, Miss Aura," Megatron's voice was filled with sweet honey, savoring the fact that she was already exhausted. No matter how much she acted tough in this situation, he can see the broken girl's energy draining, "I admire your resolve, I must admit, I didn't expect you to move that quickly." The time in between walking in and her appearing had only been a minute
He took another few steps forward before he felt the heat of the room increasing again, like before when she entered the fray.
"Don't you dare get any closer!" She hissed, knowing this was probably all that she had left, "I'll bring this entire room down!" It was a half bluff, knowing fully well she could destroy the systems in this room with what energy she had left. She'd be damned to let Fowler die here and lose their chances at stealing an advantage to Megatron.
"Now, you're bluffing, my dear." Megatron tsked He can feel it. She had no emotion of fear on her face, but she was scared. She didn't have the strength to face him in battle. A human stood no chance, no powers, or otherwise.
"Aura don't-" She speed up her overheating at this rate. She doesn't have a chance like this. She kill herself. Fowler knew they were in a bad situation, but she didn't need to push herself so hard for the likes of him.
"Yes, Miss Aura, there's no need to pull off unnecessary sacrifices. After all, if you do back away and allow me to stop the Agent, I might be able to spare you."
"Go to hell." She spat, "Fuck your sparing, whatever the hell that even means." She wouldn't falter. She only had four minutes tops. She could fall over at any second now, but she had to keep standing her ground.
"Kid!" Rattrap exclaimed, throwing Scorponok down the gap of stairs. He had to do something before she brought down
She unleashed a blast of fire towards Megatron in an instant, causing an explosion to occur.
Ugh, this is getting worse. That sped up the process in her body from possibly collapsing at any moment. She had to carry on, damn it. Just until the others showed up.
"You're weak, far too weak to even put a scratch on me. You've overexerting yourself, my dear." Megatron came out of the smoke, smirking. She was doing this to bide time. Unfortunately for her, he wasn't going to take his time with this further. He aimed his blaster at her and Fowler both.
He was about to charge it. However, his T-Rex canon blasted off in an instant, "What?!"
He turned over to look at Rattra who was standing at the doorway. He immediately charged forward, tackling the Predacon leader to the ground as Aura dropped to her knees.
She watched Rattrap wrestle with Megatron as she looked over at Fowler, standing to her feet, "Did you…."
"I…" Something clicked with confirmation, "I got it, let's jet out of here." He pulled out the cord, grabbing Aura by the arm, trying to drag her away "Let's move, Jerry." He called over to Rattrap.
"No let's not." Megatron charged his T-Rex canon, knocking Rattrap into the wall.
"Get down!" Aura shoved Fowler to the ground the moment it opened fire.
Suddenly, a green pair of lasers knocked Megatron to the floor. Dinobot landed onto the ground, pulling out his sword.
Suddenly, Rattrap's energon surge erupted, "Ah, Beast Mode." He transforms back.
"Hey!" A voice exclaimed. Turning, Fowler and Aura saw that Robert was on the helicopter, "Did anyone order some help!"
"About damn time." Fowler groaned as Robert grinned, giving a small wave.
"Good to see you." He offered a hand over to them, "Let's move."
"No problem." Fowler grabbed Aura's arm, throwing it over his shoulders to support her, "Don't you dare argue with me, kid."
He rushed over, grabbing Robert's hand as he hoisted them up. Rattrap, following, "Dinobot, let's move."
Dinobot tsked as he tossed Megatron across the room, "But we have them at our…"
"Listen, I've had enough of this bozzo for a day. Get over here, Lizard Lips." Rattrap snapped at him.
"Fine." Dinobot rushed in to run after them, jumping into the helicopter with part of his robot form sticking out due to how tall he was.
He transformed into Beast Mode the moment he got on.
"Everyone okay?" Robert asked, looking around.
"We're okay, Miss Sunshine over here overexerted herself though. Used her powers too much." Rattrap jabbed a finger at Rachel who was sitting back against the wall.
"Hey, I saved Fowler's ass."
"Not without my help."
There was a moment of silence before Aura nodded, "Sure, thanks." She muttered, feeling utterly exhausted after that battle. She could go for a two day nap just about now, "I'm not injured, just exhausted."
"Good to hear, we'll have to run through how the entire fight felt to you after you recuperated for a bit." Robert nodded, looking over at Fowler, "So, did you guys get the information you needed."
"We deleted the blueprints, yes. Hopefully we won't have to deal with drones for a while." Fowler sighed, "but that was way too close for comfort."
"You're telling me." Aura sighed, "I think I'm good not dealing with Megatron for a while."
"You and me both." He sighed before smacking Rachel upside the head, "What were you thinking? He could've killed you."
"But I didn't." Aura pointed out, "He was going to kill you too until I saved your skin."
"You're stubborn you know that?" Fowler groaned. That kid nearly gave him a heart attack. What was he gonna say to Olivia if she didn't get out of there?
Aura gave a small laugh to the agent, "Sometimes, being stubborn gets you far." She grinned.
XXXX
Meanwhile, at the Darksyde, Megatron had just returned from the CR chamber along with his minions. He stared at the screen before him, watching at the blue screen, "I admit, I highly underestimated them, yessss. However, there is a reason why I backup such things." He stared at the screen with the blueprints of the drones. He also had upgrades planned. Optimus and the Red Aura played their games of pawns well in that first encounter.
"You may have thought you won the battle, Maximals, but I have a feeling this will be a start to a wondrous conclusion." Megatron cackled, "For I have far more upgrades to put on these prototypes."
He would enjoy slipping the dogs of war.
That's that. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Feel free to review, follow, and fave!